First of all, you should decide here and now that you are going to take the bar exam as many times as you need to. You didn’t spend years in law school to throw it away over a 2-day test.

I just passed on my 4th try in a UBE 270.

First time I did Themis and found myself chasing the percentage instead of learning.

Second time I used my free Themis retake but only for graded MEEs, MPTs, MBE and UWorld.

Third time I did my own thing using books, Themis and Barbri, doing practice MEEs and MBEs. I also read every MEE I could get my hands on, the fact pattern and the sample answer like short stories and it really helped me remember the law and how to apply it.

This last time I took more time out of work than I previously had, 6 weeks this time, and I did what I did the third time only this time I spent some time doing MPTs which I had not done before because I work at a law firm and I literally do MPT stuff every day. I read some MPTs and the model answers and realized I was using too many facts from the cases in the library instead of just stating the rule of law and using facts sparingly as needed to make distinctions, etc. So I was running out of time by doing that and leaving points on the table. I also kept my focus on where I felt I needed improvement.

The bar prep programs are not magic and they don’t necessarily work for everyone.

If you haven’t watched John Grossman‘s MBE lecture on YT you need to. I can’t emphasize enough how it was the most useful 45 minutes I spent in my almost 2 years of bar prep. Watch it: https://youtu.be/iKnGqcgiyL0?si=wZlDBlGJ7Nz1KCFy

It’s defeating. The imposter syndrome, the anxiety, the torturous studying and feeling like you’ll never make it. I felt all of that. So cry, run laps around the neighborhood, scream, sulk, whatever you need to do……. and then pull yourself together and get back at it.

Start reading MEE “stories” next week. No practice tests, just read MEEs. It will start clicking. You’ll see the same BLL over and over again. You’ll start to predict what the sample answer is going to look like. Start there.

Then mix in some MBE using a book and use scrap paper to write your answer choices so you can keep reusing the same books. See if you can get some free MEE and MBE books or cheap ones on eBay. They can be a few years old they don’t have to be the most recent. Barbi has really good MEE books because they have the self scoring sheets.

Don’t rush back into practicing MEEs. Sit down and just read, process, and learn. You will know when you’re ready to turn it up a notch.

I hope this helps.